May 26, 2016

Welcome! Before I get started on this LONG post, I just want to mention that I will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan, next weekend, June 3-4 for Copic Workshops. Hope to see some of you there!____________

Yesterday I tackled the subject of how I chose Copic markers when I started collecting them. To be clear, there really isn't a wrong way--just different ways. When I shared color theory basics yesterday, I knew that I would probably cause some eyes to glaze over. Today I thought I'd hit an even simpler idea, as well as offering some of my most used marker combos.

If color wheels aren't your idea of fun, how about rainbows and unicorns? (Oops--I said no unicorns, right?) Most of you probably learned the order of the colors in the rainbow with the acronym ROY G. BIV. (If not, you've learned something new today! )

R (red), O (orange), Y (yellow)

G (green)

B (blue), I (indigo), and V (violet)

We aren't going to worry about additive versus subtractive color today--just the basics. Since the rainbow contains the full visible light spectrum, it would make sense that you could also have a full spectrum of Copic markers by collecting markers in rainbow color families, right? So if you pick your favorite Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo (blue-violet in Copic-ese), and Violet families, you should have a pretty good start on your Copic marker collection. Of course, I'd probably sneak in a Yellow-Green family and a Red-Violet family as well. . . but then I love having plenty of color choices!

Before I share any lists of markers that I would choose to begin a workable collection, I want to reiterate that color choices are personal; you and I would likely have different preferences in color just as in music or food. For that reason, I really don't like to give out color lists! But I know that people really do like to see lists. Sigh. . . With no further procrastination, here are some of my favorite SIMPLE marker combos. With some of the families, I will list "-OR-" choices and tell you what distinguishes them in my thinking or what I especially like about it or use it for, in case that helps. (In other words, you STILL have to make choices!)

Keep in mind that between photographing color swatches and posting them here, they won't be super color accurate. I did white-balance each swatch, but you really should try a marker or at least compare my swatch to the ones on the official Imagination International Inc. website before choosing, okay? Also, please note that each color swatch is BELOW its description.

BV00/BV02/BV04/BV08: (If you tend to overblend, you may want to go with BV000 in place of BV00, and BV01 in place of BV02) The BV00's are intense blue-violets with a great range of value. -OR-

BV11/BV13/BV17: If you prefer a little more violet and a little less blue, you might like the BV10's family better.

BV20, BV23, BV25: I sometimes use the BV20's for shadows; they are similar to a cool gray with blue-violet undertones. However, I slightly prefer the V20/V22/V25/V29 family for shadows, especially for shadows on skin tones.

Violets

V12/V15/V17: The V10's are a little less intense than the V00's, but they blend beautifully. If you need a darker value than the V17, you can always add on the V09, which is a deep, lovely violet.

V20/V22/V25/V29: I've mentioned this in the previous section, but I slightly prefer the V20's to the BV20's for shadow tones, especially on skin.

V91/V93/V95/V99: The V90's remind me of raisin tones. They are very muted though; so while useful, they probably wouldn't be on my absolute must-have short list if I were limited in the number of Copic colors that I could choose.

RV10/RV52/RV55/RV66: Yes, I know that this isn't a proper color family. But sometimes you need a marker that is lighter in value than RV52, and sometimes you need a marker darker in value than an RV55. These are absolutely luscious red-violets, cooler and more violet than the RV20's.

Reds

R30/R32/R35/R37/R39: If you want to work harder at blending, or perhaps use some palette blending, you might be able to get by with just the R30/R35/R39. But it's a challenge. The R30's are slightly cooler in temperature than the R20's, in my opinion. There's nothing wrong with the R20's--I just like my R30's slightly better!

RV32/RV34/R56/R59: Yes, I know that I mixed Red-Violets and Reds here, but it works--try it! -OR-

R81/R83/R85/R89: The R80's are similar to the sequence just above where I mixed some lighter RV's with the R50's. Both are cooler reds, leaning toward mauve/cranberry/victorian red. Neither of the these is really a true red. You need a true red? Then I'd go for the R20's or R30's instead.

Yellow-Reds

YR02/YR04/YR07/YR09/E09 (if you need a darker value than the YR09): The YR00's are a peach-to-deep-orange family. Surely you need ONE orange family in your collection! (See the last bullet point in this section for an alternate orange family.)

YR30/YR31/YR21/YR24/YR27: This mixture of yellow-red families ranges from a sheer, barely-there buttercream yellow to a deep yellow ochre--yummy! The YR30 is very light in value, so you might get by with starting your sequence with a YR31. You could also leave off the YR27 if you don't need a deep yellow ochre bordering on raw sienna. However, adding that YR27 gives you a great value range.

YR61/YR82/YR65/YR68/E08: No typo there. I mix these up a bit. This is a second possibility of a range of peachy tones to orange and even rust tones. This combination is slightly less intense than the YR00's that are listed on the first line, and you can probably choose one or the other.

Yellows

Y11/Y15/Y18/Y38: Yes, that Y38 looks odd at the end of the Y10's sequence, but it works to complete a range of lemon-to-sunny, intense yellows.

Yellow-Greens

YG01/YG03/YG05/YG17: Intense yellow-greens. And, yes, I really do like YG17 better than YG07/YG09 at the end of this sequence. The YG17 is a little yellower, and it's what I usually pick up to finish this sequence. -OR-

YG21/YG23/YG25/YG17: All things being equal, I'll more often pick up the YG20's family than the YG00's. I still finish the YG20's with that YG17 though. It's a great color!

YG61/YG63/YG67: This is a slightly cooler yellow-green, similar to the G40's below. (You can probably get by with one or the other if you're just starting your collection.)

YG93/YG95/YG99: Army green, anyone? This is a really muted yellow-green family. I don't use it on a weekly basis, but when I need it, I'm glad it's there!

Greens

G00/G02/G05/G07: This is a pale, mint-green to vibrant kelly green family. I love the G00, and G02 for antique glass jars. I don't use the darker value colors quite as much.

G40/G43/G46/G29: One of my most used green combos these days. As I mentioned in the Yellow-Greens section above, it is somewhat similar to the YG60's, but more intense and with more contrast, as long as you add that G29 to the end for a truly dark value.

Blue-Greens

Disclaimer: choosing between blue-greens for me is almost like choosing a favorite child--it just shouldn't be done! I'm going to list several favorite sequences and tell what I like about each one. Then YOU can choose what seems more useful to you.

BG11/BG13/BG15/BG18: This family is quite a bit greener than the BG00's. Think pale aqua to a teal green.

BG10/BG45/BG49: No, that BG10 isn't a typo. I needed something light that would work with the lovely BG40's! BG45 and BG49 are perfect blue-greens--not too green, not too blue--kind of like Baby Bear's oatmeal, chair, and bed in The Three Bears. . .

B00/BG53/BG57: Another lovely blue-green family. Yes, I did use a B00 (blue) in with the BG50's, but I needed a pale base color, and the BG50's are bluer rather than greener. (If you need a darker value than BG57, throw a BG49 at the end of this combo.)

B21/B23/B28: baby-boy-blue all the way to royal blue. These are intense!

B60/B63/B66/B69: This blue family leans toward purple to me--very different from the other two blue families that I most often use.

B90/B93/B95/B97/B99: Muted, like my husband's work jeans.

Any discussion on Earth tones and Grays are going to have to wait until another day. (I colored swatches half the day and still didn't get to the earth tones and grays!) I'm hoping that this will be helpful to those of you who have asked questions about starting your Copic Marker collection. I've normally tried to avoid that question because I knew that it could take forever to explain, and that color truly IS a personal choice anyway. But at least you can see how I've made choices. Again, this is primarily for people who are beginning a Copic collection. If you already have an extensive collection, or if you are feeling more adventurous with color theory, maybe I will have a chance to create a post for you another day.

I will try to answer questions if you have them--leave it in the comments section. :-)

May 25, 2016

Welcome! Tonight I have an unusual post, addressing a question that I'm asked regularly by blog readers, as well as in almost every Copic Standard Certification:"I think I want to try Copic markers, but where do I begin my collection?"

Some people begin a collection by choosing a pre-packaged set of markers, and then adding a second, complementary set later. There is nothing wrong with that method, but I have to tell you that I've never, ever ordered a pre-made set. . . Color is a personal choice for me, like music is. You know how you have an absolute favorite playlist, and your friend inexplicably doesn't share your good taste in music? Well, color can be that way too!

General Suggestions (These are the suggestions that you've probably heard already, but that I would be remiss not to mention!)

Rather than choosing a random variety of colors, try to choose colors in sets of three markers that will work well together--a light value, a mid-tone, and a dark value. Generally, that means that you are safest choosing colors that are in the same blending family, such as R20's--your choice of three of these: R20/21/22/24/27/29. Do you HAVE to stick to color families? No, you certainly don't. In real life, shadows are not as saturated/intense as mid-tones, so choosing your shadow tone from a less saturated color family is often a good idea. However, sticking with color families is certainly always a good and safe choice--especially when you are beginning!

Consider what you color most. Are you coloring landscapes? Think in terms of colors that you might see in nature. Are you making kid-birthday-cards at this stage of life? Perhaps bright/saturated/intense colors would be a great starting place for you.

Choose colors that you love, and then build your value triad around those. If you adore R37 or R39, then pick a lighter marker or two to go with that one. Is aqua your favorite color? Then don't ignore those Blue-Green families! If you love a color, choose it, and forget about "the rules," because if you love it, you will probably use it.

When I started my own Copic collection, I automatically thought in terms of a color wheel. I wanted to be sure that I had primary and secondary colors first, and then I planned to start adding in my favorite tertiary colors after that. Just in case you're interested, here's my oversimplification of [additive] color. . .

[Skip the next section if you're easily bored and don't need a quick color review!]

Primary colors are the basic colors from which you can mix other colors: Yellow, Blue, Red.

If you've kept track, we have twelve colors so far--three primaries, three secondaries, and six tertiaries. How does this relate to Copic choices? When I picked my Copic markers, I wanted to be able to cover all of my color bases, because I really wasn't sure what I would be coloring. I enjoy sketching and coloring nature, which would suggest more earthy, natural colors. But I also enjoy coloring whimsical images, which beg for more saturated/intense/bright colors. See the dilemma? I. Needed. Wanted. It. ALL. . . (Who doesn't?)

Recently I was scrounging through paper bits that I'd kept over the years, and I found the color scratch sheets above, a reminder of a time when someone had asked me what Copic markers I would consider essential in a limited palette. Ugh! I really wanted a blending set or two from each Copic family, but I was trying to limit myself to around fifty colors.WHAT? No WARM Grays? Whatever was I thinking??? And notice how few skin tones I had in that collection? Clearly I wasn't coloring many people yet, because skin tones weren't of great concern to me then.

I'm getting really long-winded here, so I think I'll wind up tonight's post by showing you an old picture (2013-2014) of my first traveling marker set. By that, I mean the seventy-two markers that I wanted to make sure I had with me if I had to travel somewhere to demo Copic markers and couldn't take all 358 of them! By this time, I had added in some warm grays, some muted purples, and more skin tones, as compared to my planning scratch sheets above. But almost all of the colors that I had originally decided I "needed" ended up in the 72-piece set.If I picked a new 72-piece traveling Copic marker set today, I am sure that some of these would change.

Would your favorite 72-piece Copic set look exactly like mine? Probably not. But that's okay. I know that color is a personal choice, and I promise not to hold it against you. ;-)

Tomorrow I want to talk about rainbows and Copics. No unicorns though. . . Thanks for visiting!

Part 2 of Choosing Copic Marker Colors is HERE, along with a downloadable chart containing all swatches an explanations.

Welcome! Today I am participating in a Sketch Challenge, My Favorite Things Stamps WSC282. I kept it clean and simple. This is actually my second attempt; my first one was going to look like a palette, with different colors stamped in each of the five positions. I never quite got that one to work right, so flowers to the rescue! I used a blossom and leaf from MFT's Mini Modern Blooms, and pulled my sentiment from a May release, Because You.

What would you put in the five focal areas? Remember that you can also rotate a sketch if you'd rather create a vertical aspect card, or modify it in other ways as well--whatever works for you!

Would you like to play along with us? You can find more information HERE on the MFT Stamps blog. Thanks for visiting today,

May 17, 2016

Please Note: The May MFT Stamps Flashy Florals kit is now SOLD OUT. The Flashy Florals stamp set will be available in a future release, however. Thanks!

Welcome! Just popping in to share one more Flashy Florals card and to let you know that the MFT StampsFlashy Florals Kit is now available! I chose non-kit colors for this card, all linked at the bottom of my post. I love layering flowers. Can you tell? :-)

Here is the inside of my card, same color scheme as the front of my card and with the same Copic B32 Airbrushed background.

I used Die-namics 27 on this card front--love that scalloped, stitched border! I wanted my flowers to show through the sentiment, so I used some vellum to heat emboss my sentiment on, and then attached it underneath the flowers on the left.

For more inspiration, be sure to check the MFT Stamps Blog for a full list of everyone participating in tonight's reveal. Again, the Flashy Florals Kit is now available! Thanks for visiting,

May 15, 2016

Welcome! Today I have a floral card to share using the lovely My Favorite Things Stamps May Flashy Florals Kit. We actually had snow flurries here on Saturday, so these big flowers are just about all I have of Spring right now! (Not enough snow to stick, thankfully--just in case you wondered.) The May Flashy Florals kit will be available on Tuesday evening, May 17, at 10pm EST.

Here is the inside of my card. I haven't used a sentiment inside yet, because I'm not sure what I want to use my card for; but I knew that I wanted to carry the same flower theme and colors to the inside my card.

My card uses only ink, stamps, and cardstock available in the May Flashy Florals Kit. I added only one non-kit die to cut the oval window on my card front. I also used my Copic Airbrush System to airbrush blue sky behind my flowers. You could sponge on distress inks if you have those though--whatever your favorite way to add color to a background. Glitter and adhesives--that's the rest of my "non-kit" pieces, all thing that you probably already have in your stash. :-)

For a full list of everyone participating in the May Flashy Florals "In the Box" introduction today, as well as a complete list of everything in the HUGE Flashy Florals Kit, be sure to visit the MFT Stamps Blog!

Again, the May Flashy Florals kit linked below will be available on Tuesday evening, May 17, at 10pm EST. (The link will start working at that time.) Thank you for visiting today,

May 11, 2016

Welcome! I am unofficially playing along on today's My Favorite Things Stamps WSC280 sketch challenge. . . because I, well, forgot to actually sign up for this challenge! Anyway, I still wanted to share my card that I'd made for the challenge with the MFT Stamps Pure Innocence Straight to the Point stamp set.

Here's this week's MFT Sketch WSC280--a pretty simple one, right? So you'd like to play along too, right? :-)

Shown above are the Copic Markers that I used to color the Straight to the Point image. I also used a scrap of denim, spritzed with Colorless Blender to create the denim pattern on her dress.

Would you like to play along with this sketch challenge? You can find more information HERE on the MFT Challenge Blog. Thanks for stopping by today,

May 03, 2016

Welcome! It's finally Release Night at My Favorite Things Stamps; that means that all of the new stamp sets and products that you've seen over the past five days are now available. (The links should all work now.) Today I'm sharing a card made with the Pretty Posies stamp set, and using a sentiment from Because You.

I stamped the flowers and leaves on watercolor paper and then loosely watercolored them before die-cutting them. I kept the layout simple, toying first with the idea of a largely colored background; but I liked it better with a plain whip cream background. Of course, my Blueprints Die-namics made it simple to layer background pieces!

I hope you get a chance to visit the MFT Stamps Blog for the full scoop on the May Release. Again, all new products are now available at the MFT Stamps Store. Have fun!

May 01, 2016

Welcome! It's Day Two of the My Favorite Things Stamps Countdown Release--almost release day! Today I'm sharing a card using the Snuggle Bunnies stamp set, combined with a few elements (clouds and sun) from Magical Unicorns.

Shown above are the Copic markers that I used to color the Snuggle Bunnies and Magical Unicorns images. I used a black 0.1 Copic Multiliner to draw hills.

Here is my card inside. In retrospect, I might have switched the outside and inside sentiments, so that the bunny with his head back would be on the same side as the "laughing with you" sentiment. chalk it up as "things to do differently next time!" ;-) I colored the bunny on X-Press It cardstock, then die-cut him. For background, I drew a hill with my black 0.1 Copic Multiliner and then airbrushed the grass and sky so that the marker wouldn't bleed through the back of the cardstock.

And here's how the inside and outside play together! (So had you noticed that I hadn't finished the inside yet on my top photo? Well, now you know. . .)

Be sure to visit the MFT Blog to see who is showcasing today's release sets AND to see how you can win a $75 prize ! While the links list is below, the links for the NEW PRODUCTS won't work until May 3 at 10pmEST. All of the others should be working now, and the new products links will work as soon as the release goes live.

My Art Journal Blog

FTC Disclosure Statement

In the spirit of full disclosure, I currently work as a freelance designer in some capacity for the following companies: Imagination International, Inc. (Copic Markers), My Favorite Things Stamps, and Power Poppy Stamps. While I am compensated by these companies, either monetarily or in product, I maintain the freedom as an independent designer to say what I truly think of the products that I use. I will not recommend something that I don't personally use and enjoy.